


You Spark Joy

by elena_stidham



Category: Banana Fish (Anime & Manga)
Genre: Couch Cuddles, Domestic Fluff, Fluff, Fluff and Humor, Kissing, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-24
Updated: 2019-12-24
Packaged: 2021-02-25 22:47:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,386
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21943117
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/elena_stidham/pseuds/elena_stidham
Summary: Perhaps, in the midst of kisses on a boat in the middle of Inokashira Park, Ash falls in love all over again. And he's learns, curled up with the boy he loves on their couch, that he isn't going to lose this love at all.
Relationships: Ash Lynx/Okumura Eiji
Comments: 6
Kudos: 145





	You Spark Joy

**Author's Note:**

> WARNINGS FOR: Language and jealousy over a goddess lmao
> 
> SONGS USED TO GET IN THE MOOD: My Recovery playlist: 
> 
> https://open.spotify.com/user/twijill/playlist/08UcNbQJ83tKPdZnp57XY6?si=kh2Vj5g7SKGGAmBSVw3ySw
> 
> I wrote this as part of the Banana Fish Secret Santa for Karo @runrun926 on twitter! I really hope you like it! I tried to keep the focus on this piece more on the fluffy side even though my specialty is angst with a happy ending lmao so I hope my angst tendencies didn’t seep in too much. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!
> 
> I also want to apologise for not posting anything in a long time. I’m working on a zine (which I will soon finish and link to, so far just keep an eye on my Twitter until then!!) and I’ve just been dealing with a lot of personal, academic, and job related issues that I’m trying to work through on my own so it’s kind of a mess. Thankfully it’s winter break and I’m going into next semester with the fewest credit hours I could possibly take, so I plan to get the ball rolling on more creative projects soon as I move along with my own recovery. Be on the lookout!
> 
> My twitter and tumblr is elenastidham. Thank you so much for reading, and I hope you enjoy!
> 
> -Elena

Tucked away in Inokashira Park in Tokyo, a goddess resigns among the water. It’s said that she was jealous of couples, and any couple that rode a boat through her water would be destined to break apart unless they prayed for forgiveness at her shrine.

What a load of horse shit.

Ash will admit, of all the dates that Eiji had brought him on since moving to Japan, this one had to have been one of the _funniest_ he’s ever come across. Why on earth would anyone ever be jealous of two people minding their own business? It’s not like he’s had to spend his life alone and abandoned and longing and wishing for a life like what he sees through other people—

Oh fuck he was jealous.

Well maybe this goddess does have a reason, after all. It doesn’t matter. He’s happy now in his new life with Eiji and that’s all that’s supposed to matter, right? He’s got nothing to worry about anymore.

But then there’s nights where he wakes up shaking to the bone, mornings where he can’t bring himself to eat, times after times where he’s lost and distraught and unable to find any kind of solace. Yet Eiji is still there. He is harbouring love and comfort and protecting anything that Ash would need – so he’d be damned. He’d be absolutely _damned_ if he were to lose someone like Eiji.

He won’t allow it, not if he can help it. Not if he can help it in any way.

So when he finds himself at the crumpling wooden gates of jealousy, he learns about this goddess and what she can do. He learns that there’s a threat to take his life away – and it doesn’t involve killing him.

So what does he do? What does he do, instead of listen to rational thought? He becomes angry. He’s angry at this goddess, and he’s angry that she would even dare, despite everything they had been though together, to split him away from Eiji. It angers him in ways he can’t explain with a simple set of words – and so he wants her to pay. This mythical goddess, that probably isn’t even real, with no power at all, is getting under his skin so badly that he’s setting up a plot of _revenge._

Eiji finds it hilarious.

The teasing is only light, of course, but the idea of his partner suddenly trying to upset a goddess over some myth is something he can’t help but giggle about. It’s classic Ash, really – strung up over a series of events even remotely attached to Eiji that he’s willing to fight god.

Even still, he goes along with it. He’s sure to reassure Ash that there’s really no reason to worry about something like that.

“No god or goddess could pull me away from you, and they can try their best,” Eiji had said with a quiet laugh. “It’s just an old myth. I highly doubt the goddess would apply her rules to an American.”

“Yes, but I speak Japanese, so by extension—”

“—No—” Eiji begins to laugh.

“—I want to prove her wrong.”

“Okay,” is all Eiji can bring himself to say. It’s a lot, especially on a couple of dumb kids, so moments like these are well cherished and remembered for many years to come in the future. He decides to stop trying to fight Aslan out of this – because he knows, at this point, he’s just being a kid. The persona of Ash is starting to crumble apart and break, and now all that’s left beneath the earth and skin is Aslan, and it’s while he’s Aslan he is at his happiest. He’s at his most sincere.

The next time they’re in Tokyo, they make it a priority to go to Inokashira Park. It’s there when they rent out a boat, and it’s in this pond when they finally begin to drift down beneath the alley of trees and floating leaves. No curse will stop them here.

In the heart of Kichijoji people will see these two and they will know their names – they will know their faces and they will be known as the couple that _was not scared._

They stop the swam boat in the middle of the pathway, and it’s right there when Eiji turns see what’s going on. In that moment, in that faint sprinkle of summertime, Eiji’s head is gently brought close to lock against Ash’s lips. They kiss in these quiet moments, with Eiji’s back finding himself carefully pressed against the bottom of the boat as Ash drinks each kiss like ice.

“Ash,” Eiji giggles softly.

He only hums.

“You’re going to make her angry.”

Ash smirks, his kisses starting to grow more possessive by the fraction of the hour. “I don’t care,” he breathes finally. “Make her jealous. She wants what we have.”

“Aslan—”

His name is cut short with his own lips pressed into Eiji’s face. They’ve kissed on a thousand different dates before – but these kisses hit different. These kisses carry an emotion that’s hard to pinpoint in just one place.

These kisses just mean who they are. These kisses just say they’re home.

Make her angry. Make her jealous. _I fucking hope she’s watching,_ is what Ash starts to think. He wants this goddess to melt that stubborn heart of hers and leave people like them alone. He wants her to see that this love is true and this love is real, and that this love will not weaken any bond nor will it break, and she can’t do anything about it.

Ash wants her to watch this. He wants her to see just how much he will fight for Eiji. He wants her to see all that he would be willing to do.

Perhaps then she’ll learn. Perhaps then, just like him, she will finally someone worth dying for.

When they’re back home the next night, Eiji’s simply in the kitchen putting together some snacks for the movie they’re watching together. While he’s doing that, Ash is in the living room, setting up their couch with blankets and pillows and getting the TV ready for the snacks they’ll eat to accompany the viewing.

It’s a typical night off, spent together and loved as one.

They’re still in love.

So in love it seems that what happened over in Kichijoji was almost non-existent to all, that this sleepy little park in Tokyo would play no part of effect no instance of their lives. Perhaps he did overreact a bit, perhaps there was a slight exaggeration.

Even still it was fun, and it was all in good fun. There’s nothing more or less about it. It’s a simple action done by a child, in the end, and there’s no problem whatsoever in having a bit of fun even while you’re an adult.

When the living room is set, Eiji finds Ash right beside him, helping him finish things and bringing what’s complete over onto the coffee table. It’s not until they have nothing else to do – waiting, watching the popcorn in the stove – when Ash finally opens his mouth to say something.

“Sorry, by the way,” he looks over at Eiji. “For being silly earlier.”

Eiji has to comprehend this for a second – he had actually completely forgotten – then he just laughs it off. “It was cute,” he reassures. “Don’t worry about it.”

The next thing they know the television is playing a movie that they don’t pay attention to. At least, not mentally. Their eyes are captivated onto the screen, but their hearts and thoughts are preoccupied with a simple touch – arms curled around bodies and bodies retaining warmth under a shared blanket.

It’s a simple, soft kind of love. It’s the love that creates a title of its own, until two hearts beat in one same way as the last.

They’ve held each other before. They’re very familiar with what it feels like to fall asleep in each other’s arms, yet while they’re tucked away into this little corner of solitude, there’s an emphasis of peace here. There’s a resistance, a gentle sort of care – with eyes wide open they pay attention to thumbs stroking across skin. With eyes falling shut they don’t peel away from each other even in the morning.


End file.
